A rare case of monkeypox has been confirmed in a man in Massachusetts who recently traveled to Canada, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
A press release Wednesday said the elderly man was tested late Tuesday and confirmed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“The case does not pose a risk to the public and the person is hospitalized and in good condition,” the statement said.
The Massachusetts case is the first case reported in the United States since the United Kingdom announced on May 7 that it had discovered a case of monkeypox. Of this first case, the United Kingdom has identified eight more cases. Portugal has reported five cases and Spain is investigating eight potential cases.
The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) said in a statement to CTVNews.ca on Wednesday that it was monitoring the situation and that Canada had no cases at this stage.
“PHAC is aware of and is closely monitoring the current situation regarding the reporting of monkeypox cases in Europe,” a spokesman said. “No cases of PHAC have been reported so far.”
Monkeypox is a virus that is common in wild animals such as squirrels, with most cases in West and Central Africa. Human cases are rare, with the former registered in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the 1970s.
Human transmission usually occurs through a bite or “direct contact with the blood, body fluids or lesions of an infected animal,” according to Health Canada. Once a person is infected, it is possible for it to spread among humans, but it does not spread easily and has limited portability.
Symptoms of monkeypox may include fever, muscle aches, and fatigue in milder cases. Most cases go away in a few days, but if the case is more severe, it can progress to two to four weeks, in which the rash spreads and develops into pustules on the body, with the potential development of lesions on the mouth, tongue and genitals. .
The virus is similar to smallpox, but is milder and involves swelling of the lymph nodes, which is not found in smallpox. In Africa, mortality is estimated at around 1-10 percent.
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